Her Tattooed Savior (New Adult Wrestling Erotic Romance) (3 page)

“If you say so,” Jay said, the anger still in his green eyes. “But
don’t hesitate to call. I’ll get here as soon as possible, okay?”

“Okay,” Mandy nodded. “Thanks again for the lift. And well, and
everything else.”

“No problem, baby girl,” Jay offered her a smile as he got back on the
bike and put on his helmet. “Call anytime. The helmet has Bluetooth, so even if
I’m on the road I’ll hear it.”

Mandy watched as Jay revved the Harley and turned out of the parking
lot. She stayed outside in the cool air of the summer night watching him go
until his tail lights disappeared into the night, and even then she stayed a
little longer. It was almost one in the morning, but as she thumbed her phone
she thought about calling him back right then.

No
, she thought as she forced herself to limp inside and up the
few flights of stairs to her apartment.
It’s just a silly fantasy. He was
just being nice.

Mandy shook her head as she stepped into the apartment. It was so late,
but she was still riding high from the thrill of the night. Apart from Ronnie
losing his temper, it was like something out of her most perfect fantasy. It
was so wonderful that as she stepped into her tiny apartment she couldn’t help
but view it as just a little dingier and maybe just a bit sadder. There were
pieces of Ronnie scattered all over her place; his discarded shoes, his parking
tickets, his beat up old baseball cap. Even her old sewing machine that he’d
broken during a fight and promised to get fixed but never did. The things that
use to give her comfort when she was home alone, but after her ride with Jay
even seeing his shirt over the back of her couch just made her sad. It reminded
her of the life she had rather than the brief glimpse into the dream that Jay
Viper had given her.

As she walked around her apartment, all Mandy wanted to do was call Jay
back. He couldn’t have gotten far and he said his helmet had Bluetooth. He
could probably be back in fifteen minutes.
But would he come back ‘just
because’?
Mandy thought to herself as she went to her old electric kettle
and clicked it on. Her body was still too awake for the late hour and some
sleepy time tea was what she’d settled on to help calm her down. She needed to
relax and get over her schoolgirl fantasy before it got out of control.

Just as Mandy was about to take her first sip of tea she heard the rap
music blaring from car speakers as a vehicle approached the edge of town. She
recognized the music, she recognized the rude level of thumping bass, and she
recognized the squealing tires as they pulled into the building’s parking lot.
She knew it was Ronnie and she knew she was in trouble.

“No,” she muttered to herself as she clicked the kettle off. “No, he
can’t. He’ll wake everyone up. I’ll get in shit again.” Mandy’s landlord had
threatened to evict her before over complaints about the amount of noise Ronnie
made, but this was by far the worst. There was no way he wasn’t waking up the
rest of the building with the racket his car was making.

She was afraid he’d make matters worse by screaming at her from the
parking lot, but thankfully he turned off his stupid old car and the music went
quiet. She breathed a sigh of relief at that, but then she realized what it
meant. He had a key to her apartment. He could get in.

He probably just wants sex
, she tried to assure herself. That’s
all he usually wanted when he showed up at her place at weird hours. He’d get
high, or drunk, or both, and get her into bed. He’d probably just had a bunch
to drink, or maybe smoked his new drug of choice, and wanted her to sleep with
him.

So she hoped at least. If that’s all it was, she’d simply imagine it
was Jay on top of her, awkwardly thrusting in and out of her without concern
for her pleasure. Of course, she didn’t think Jay seemed like the kind of guy
to ignore what she wanted, but she could at least pretend.

From outside her door she could hear his heavy boots as they pounded
their way up the steps to her apartment. The elevator was almost always broken
and that would just make Ronnie madder. She just had to keep hoping he was
horny instead of angry.

“You stupid slut,” Ronnie banged on the door as he fumbled with his
key. “You think you can make a fool out of me?”

Not horny
, Mandy’s mind realized as she instinctively backed
herself up into the corner of her kitchen. From the kitchen she could see the
fury in Ronnie’s eyes as he burst through her front door. His fists were
clenched and she could hear his ragged breathing from across the room. She’d
never seen him so mad, and for the first time she was afraid he was going to
take it too far. He was going to kill her this time, she had no doubt in that.

Normally she froze up and took it when Ronnie beat her. She’d just curl
up and hide away inside herself while he laid bruises across her skin. She knew
the beatings just got worse if she fought back or ran, she’d learned that from
her father. This time though, this time she knew she had to get away from him
or she might never leave her shitty apartment again.

The only room in her apartment that had a lock on its door was the
bathroom, but to get there she’d have to run right by Ronnie. She was dead if
he caught her, but she had no choice. She wasn’t stronger than him, but for
once she was faster as she
dove
past him.

As she flew past him, Ronnie managed to get a hand on her blonde hair
and he almost caught her, but she kept moving as he tore a chunk of it out from
her scalp. She kept running through the blinding pain coming from both her head
and foot and she grabbed her phone from the coffee table as she ran by it.

Mandy had to throw herself into the grimy bathroom and she skidded on
her hip across the floor as she kicked the door closed behind her. The room was
just small enough that she could keep her feet on the door while her back was
against the wall to keep Ronnie out no matter how hard he slammed his shoulder
into the door. Mandy threw her feet against the door and bit her lip to stop
herself from screaming when her cut foot hit the thin door. Even through the
bandage, she knew she’d opened it again, but the pain of her foot was nothing
compared to what Ronnie would do to her if he got in.

She’d only get one shot at locking the door and she had to time it
perfectly. She’d need to stop using her body to block the door if she had any
chance of locking it, but if he slammed his shoulder against it at the wrong
time, he’d get in and kill her for sure.

“Bitch!” Ronnie screamed at her as he started punching the door. “Come
out of there, you slut!”

Mandy didn’t lose the opportunity. While Ronnie was busy screaming at
her, she lunged forward and turned the lock. It wasn’t much, and if Ronnie was
high on what she suspected, it wouldn’t take him long to get in the room. She
needed help, and she had only one person she could call.

He’d simply put his number under ‘Jay’ in her phone, but Mandy
hesitated when she got to his number. Even with Ronnie threatening to kill her
from the other side of the door, she didn’t press the call button. Despite
everything, she felt like she’d be inconveniencing him if she called for help.

Don’t hesitate
, his deep voice echoed in her mind. She took a
big breath and put her finger in her other ear to try to block out the sound of
Ronnie’s voice as she hit the all button.

“Hello? Jay answered.

“Jay,” Mandy tried to whisper so Ronnie didn’t hear her over his
screams. “He’s here. Help me.”

“Hello? Jay said again. “I can’t hear you over the wind.”

“Jay,” she held back a chocked sob. “He’s going to kill me.”

“Mandy?” Jay hollered back over the sound of the rushing wind by his
helmet. “Mandy, I’m turning around. I can be there in twenty minutes. Call the
cops.”

“I can’t!” she sobbed. “They won’t help me.”

“Twenty minutes,” Jay told her. “Just hold on for twenty minutes.”

It was the longest twenty minutes of her life. In spite of the pain,
she kept her feet pressed to the door and her back against the wall to try to
keep Ronnie from busting through the door. Despite all his screaming, no one
came to her rescue. No one bothered to call the cops. Why would they? They’d
heard it all before and if they’d tried to call the cops then, it hadn’t done
her any good. No one ever showed up. Some wrestler was the first person to ever
get between Mandy and Ronnie’s fists and she didn’t know if he’d get there in
time.

Ronnie must have been high. He was never in good shape to begin with,
yet somehow he kept beating the door and screaming at her without ever showing
signs of slowing down. He even kept punching the door as Mandy heard the sound
she’d been waiting for, the low grumble of a motorcycle as it pulled into town.

She’d never told him her apartment number, but Mandy knew Jay would be
able to find them by following the sounds of Ronnie’s shouts. The walls were
paper thin and there was no way he wouldn’t be able to hear Ronnie as he made
his way up the stairs.

“What the hell?” she heard Ronnie ask from the other side of the
bathroom door. She didn’t need to open the door to know that Jay had found
them. “What are you doing here?” Ronnie screamed.

“You need to get the hell out of here,” she heard Jay growl from
somewhere in her apartment.

“Screw you!” Ronnie screamed back. “She’s my bitch, back off.”

“No!” Jay roared and suddenly there was a crash. Mandy covered her ears
and tried to hide away inside herself as she heard the two men fighting in her
apartment. From beyond the door she heard something shatter, and then something
broke. She cringed as the two men fought and she almost unlocked the door to
tell them to stop, but the last time she’d tried to pull Ronnie out of a fight
he’d choked her so hard she’d blacked out.

A scream pierced the walls of her apartment and Mandy jumped. She
didn’t think a man like Jay could make a scream that high pitched, she had to
assume it came from Ronnie.

“You broke my arm!” Ronnie screamed, confirming her suspicions. “I’ll
kill you!”

“Just get out,” Jay barked at Mandy’s pathetic excuse for a boyfriend.
She didn’t think Ronnie would listen, but she heard her door slam and at least
one of them had left.

“Mandy?” Jay’s deep, soothing voice called from the other side of the
bathroom door. “You okay in there?”

“My foot hurts,” was all she could manage. It was still pressed against
the door and when she finally lowered it she saw the streak of blood it had
left behind.

“Let me in, baby girl,” Jay told her. “Can you open the door?”

Mandy answered by unlocking the door and Jay did the rest by opening it
for her. When she saw her apartment, Mandy almost broke down and cried. It was
a mess, an absolute mess. Her coffee table was smashed and there was glass
shattered all over the place. It was a complete disaster.

“I’m sorry about the mess,” Jay said as he offered her his hand.
“There’s more broken glass laying around, let me carry you.”

“Carry me where?” Mandy sniffed.

“Your boyfriend left,” Jay said as he scooped her up in his muscular,
tattooed arms. “But I don’t think it’s safe for you to stay here tonight. Pack
a couple things up and I’ll take you somewhere safe. I’ll call the cops while
you pack.”

“No!” Mandy shook her head. “I’ll pack, but you can’t call the police.”

“Listen,” Jay tried to explain. “I know what you’re going through. You
have to call the cops, it’s for the best.”

“You don’t understand,” Mandy argued. “Ronnie’s dad is the sheriff. It
won’t do you any good.”

“Shit,” Jay said as he carried Mandy into her bedroom. “If he charges
me with assault I’m screwed.”

“I don’t think he will,” Mandy said when Jay set her down on her bed.
“Ronnie’s dealing meth, maybe even making it. His dad knows. He’s not the
smartest guy, but I don’t think his dad would want people digging around into
Ronnie’s life right now.”

“Okay,” Jay sighed and raised his eyebrow as Mandy grabbed a few things
and tucked them into the backpack Jay had found on her living room floor. “But
that doesn’t mean your boyfriend isn’t going to come back here. We need to get
moving. One guy high on meth I can handle. We might be in trouble if all his
friends come back with him though.”

Mandy knew he was right. Ronnie wasn’t the kind of person to just give
up, especially not when he was high. He’d be back and he’d bring his stupid
friends and god knows what else. It put a new fear in her and she just grabbed
at some random clothes and stuffed them into the bag.

“Let’s go,” Mandy nodded when she was ready. The longer they stayed in
the apartment, the longer they risked Ronnie coming back. He had access to his
father’s guns and ammo, and his temper was getting so much worse that Mandy
shuddered to think what he might be capable of.

They stopped at her front door as Jay carried her across the broken
glass and shattered memories that laid scattered across the floor of her
apartment. He kept one strong arm around her waist to help her balance while
she put the sparkly purple and teal running shoes back on before Jay picked her
up and made the descent down the stairs.

“Shit,” Jay muttered when they got outside. His bike had been toppled
over, by Ronnie no doubt, but thankfully when they got closer it only looked a
little scuffed and started up no problem.

“He probably just kicked it on his way by,” Jay assured her as he
grabbed the leather jacket and extra helmet out of one of his bike’s
saddlebags. “I’ll just need to buff it a little, don’t worry.”

Mandy nodded as she put on the jacket and then her backpack. Once her helmet
was on, she finally let herself cry. They were silent tears like she’d trained
herself years ago, but with the helmet on, Jay couldn’t see them either.

She slid her hands around his stomach and held on tightly as he kicked
the bike to life. The ride back to Montgomery wasn’t near as exciting as the
ride from had been. This time she felt hollow, broken, and scared. She knew she
was leaving for good, even if it hadn’t been said. Even if Jay was only helping
her for the night, she knew returning home was out of the question. Ronnie
would kill her if he ever saw her again, and she couldn’t rely on Jay saving
her forever. Even as they drove through the starry night, Mandy began to wonder
where she’d go from here.